Why Hamilton finished third and not second

[davewilson]

The Australian grand Prix showed us many things, some clear cut, some a little murky and some suspiciously so, but one thing that was clear for all to see was the fact that double world champion Fernando Alonso will certainly have his work cut out for him this season, and not in terms of the car or Ferrari, instead the tough challenge ahead will come from closer to home, in the form of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

According to our spies in Melbourne, it was only due to Alonso’s routine and a strange strategy from his McLaren team that the Spaniard was able to beat the rookie racer to second place. While the class of a champion shows in their ability to put together a special lap in qualifying, when it is really needed, it also shows when he is able to save fuel for an extra lap, not once, but twice, while following his teammate around the circuit.

The first lap of fuel Alonso saved was still as a reserve in the tank when he pitted for the first time, the second he then used in order to have two extra laps up his sleeve when Lewis came in for his second stop. Up until that point the rookie racer had been ahead of Alonso the entire time, taking the position of first on the track out of the two right from the start.                 

However, looking at the tank times, McLaren had clearly already decided to let Alonso run longer in his second stint. Hamilton’s refuelling time at his first pitstop was 0.6 seconds shorter than his teammates, which means he got about 6 litres less fuel in the tank than Fernando. The McLaren newcomer was then unlucky to hit traffic before his second stop and the consequence of this was that including the in and out laps and the lap in between he lost 3.8 seconds to Alonso.

This basically decided their order as after his second stop, Lewis was unable to hold on to the back of his teammate any longer as his left front Bridgestone tyre grained. Hamilton had saved one fresh set of the soft tyres from qualifying to use in his final stint, whereas Alonso had used them all, and now, in hindsight, the scrubbed set of soft tyres was the better way to go rather than using the new set and as a result, Alonso was able to pull away.

The Stig

[Ian]

Said it was suss as soon as it happened

[Wizzo]

From a fans point of view we all want to see the better driver of the race win and I would have loved to see Hamilton come in second.

Ron Dennis must edge his bets and look at the big picture, he knows Alonso can keep this up and win the championship. Although it was an excellent start to the season by Hamilton, there is always the doubt that this was just good fortune.

If I was Ron, I would have done the same.



 

[Ian]

We would probably all have done the same thing in Ron's shoes if the truth is known.